


To Fly Towards A Secret Sky

by ballpoint



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: Angst, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension, unrequited romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-14
Updated: 2010-09-14
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/116665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ballpoint/pseuds/ballpoint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate is attracted to Eli, but she holds it in check.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Fly Towards A Secret Sky

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ryuutchi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuutchi/gifts).



> Disclaimer: Characters and situations are the property of Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. No profit is being made off this fan-written work.

There are things about herself that Kate knows.

For instance, she cannot stand PDA; she remembers squirming when her mom kissed her on the cheek after her first solo recital, in front of _everyone_. Or that picture of her parents on the cover of _Vanity Fair_ with her father's lips pressed against her mom's temple, her eyes closed, her face blissful. _St Eleanor of NYC: Inequality and The Queen - the elegant socialite on what drives her to do what she does_.

(Kate still keeps that magazine, but when she looks at it, she presses her hands to her cheeks, feeling their burn. No one knows this.)

There's another thing Kate knows. Eli Bradley.

Serious, hard working, hot headed and righteous. He's also laughing at something Billy says, burying his face in his hands,his shoulders shaking with mirth because the joke is terrible.

"Probably," Billy says, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I'm telling it wrong. Scratch that. How about this one? My friend drowned in a bowl of museli."

A beat. "He was pulled in by a strong currant."

Eli, Kate realises, has a great laugh. It's infectious, and when their eyes meet across the table, over fries and guacamole, Cassie stealing a quesadilla from her plate, she smiles too. It is a great day, sunshine everywhere, parasol topped tables popping up along the side-walks like mushrooms after a good spring rain. Not too hot, what with the temperatures edging into summer, and all of what a Saturday should be.

 

Kate doesn't do PDA, she knows this. She's circumspect, has always been. Eli makes her want to jump out of her self imposed restraint; to reach across the table and link his fingers with hers, feeling the strength of his affection there. Or, later, when they are walking through the shifting neon-lit streets of Broadway, swept along by the crush of the crowds, their shoulders brush, and Kate leans into the touch. Wishing he might hold her hand, hating the thought that his fingers only brush the back of her hand and dare no more, because she has taught him too well.

They are seated waiting for _Spamalot_ to begin -"It's an epic, Cassie," Tommy whispers to Cassie. "Epic." - Kate's between Eli and Tommy, the lights dim to nothing but colour and sounds and laughter. All through the play, Kate glances in Eli's direction, as soon as she knows that he's stopped looking at her. She wonders what it would be like, her fingers drawing a line along his jaw, stopping at the cleft of his chin. She knows what it is like to kiss him, but not to linger on his features like she does now. His earring a starlight against the darkness of his skin, his shirt bright in dim light. His smile, when he's unbent enough to do so, makes her wait anxiously for the next one, and when it comes, she thinks that she might just buy tickets for this play every week until its season is spent.

The play is over, and they are out of the theatre now, the low growl of humanity teaming around them, the buildings towering above them, as they cut from Broadway down to 79th Street, laughing, and they normally drift back to their homes by tacit agreement (instead of Tommy, who goes back to HQ). There's hugging, and light punches of shoulders all around - even from Jonas. Tommy gives her a one armed hug, a kiss at the corner of her mouth, cold from Coke and ice. Billy and Teddy double team hug- hugging both her and themselves at the same time. Jonas' hug still feels functionary, than affectionate, but it's loads better than it used to be. Cassie, well... Cassie always gives great hugs - open and unaffected, warm with a gust of breath at her ear. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she says. Kate says, "You'd better," and Cassie kisses her high on the temple, before going off with Billy and Teddy - "We'll see her home, before we go."

After an age, and too soon, it is just her and Eli. He's standing there, unmoved by people shoving and brushing by, his hands in his jacket pocket, because the night has suddenly turned sharp with its chill.

"You're okay getting home?" he asks, and Kate nods. She'd stopped being afraid of the dark sometime ago, and refuses to be one of _those_ people who are twice shy, once bitten. It's strange, how she can walk through the dark and not feel afraid, or go hand to hand with Ronin, and yet, right here, in front of Eli, his eyes warm on her, and his feelings for her so thick, they can be tasted, she doesn't move.

There are things Kate knows, and this is one of them. PDA isn't for her, and she's a sensible girl. Kate tells herself this, before seeing the moment in her mind's eye: she grabs the lapels of his jacket, shifting on the balls of her feet, and pressing her lips to his. Eli is a quick study, and after a moment of being stock still, he pulls her towards him. For an instant, an eternity, she's blind. Eli tastes like sticky toffee, and salted popcorn and _him_ , and for a moment, it's like flying, like dancing without feet.

Kate doesn't do that, because that is not who she is. Instead she whips out her phone, makes a call, "Dad, I'll be home in twenty minutes, I'm on 79th Street and Broadway. I'll be home in twenty at most." To Eli, she goes, "I'll see you later tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Eli raises his hand in a half wave. "I'd ask you if you really mean it, but I know you, so. Tomorrow."

He disappears into the crowds, and Kate watches him go, admires his swagger and confidence as he cuts through the crowd into the subway below. Kate wishes - wishes for many things, but knows only one thing. She places her hands against her cheeks, because they burn.


End file.
